Eero Pargmae, chief commercial officer of the state-owned airport company, said: "The decline in passengers and flight operations, which began in mid-August, also continued in September, with flight restrictions, rising infection rates and various national travel restrictions being the main factors."

He noted the airport is very pleased with the government's September 29 decision, which will allow flights to countries with an infection rate below double the EU average. "This provides the opportunity to reopen a large number of routes that had been suspended until now," he added.

According to the flight schedule, routes should be opened to Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Oslo, Stockholm, Milan, Vilnius and Vienna over the course of next week.

Pargmae said the next step should be to update the methodology for the self-isolation restriction because at the moment people have to stay home even if they arrive from a country with a lower infection rate than Estonia.

"From September 1, all Estonians are able to get tested for coronavirus for free at the airport upon arrival from a country with a high risk of infection, which is a good way to shorten the period of self-isolation in case of a negative result," he said.

In September, most flights were operated on six open routes, which were Riga, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Warsaw and Oslo. A total of 11 airlines flew on 17 routes, of which Air Baltic had the largest market share, followed by Lufthansa and Finnair.

Tallinn Airport stressed that everyone familiarize themselves with the restrictions and requirements of the destination country before going on a trip. Information can be found on both the Re-open EU and Reisi Targalt (Travel Smart) websites.

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